Could the Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat in a playoff series? Well, they couldn’t a year ago, when they managed more than 91 points just once in five games and looked a tad long in the tooth. If Boston was to beat Miami, it appeared it would have to find a way to stall LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in transition and make every game a walk-it-up, grind-it-out affair, where the Celtics excel and the Heat are not exactly comfortable. The Celts
The D-League had a record 50 players called up to the NBA this season, the league announced Tuesday. The D-League also set a record with 64 NBA player assignments. The records are pleasant news for the D-League but not surprising given the abbreviated NBA training camps and the proliferation of injuries in this truncated 66-game season. The previous records were 40 call-ups in the 2009-10 season and 56 assignments in the 2010-11 campaign. All 30 NBA teams currently have at least one player
Vegas, baby, Vegas. After a one-year hiatus due to the lockout, the NBA Summer League will return to Las Vegas in July, the league announced Tuesday. The league will be held July 13-22 on the UNLV campus in the Thomas & Mack Center and the Cox Pavilion. Tickets go on sale June 1 and can be purchased by calling 702-739-FANS or visiting UNLVtickets.com. Participating teams and game and broadcast schedules will be announced at a later date. Games will be shown on NBA
Miami’s LeBron James and Houston’s Goran Dragic were named NBA Players of the Week on Monday. James won for the Eastern Conference. He averaged 30.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.3 steals as Miami went 3-1. He led the Heat in minutes and scoring in all for games. James scored a season-high 41 points – including 14 straight Miami points in the fourth quarter – in a 99-93 win over Philadelphia on Tuesday. Dragic won for the Western Conference. He has been
New Orleans Hornets starting point guard Jarrett Jack has a stress fracture in his right foot and will miss the rest of the season, the team announced Monday. Jack missed the team’s last three games with the injury. Although very few noticed because the Hornets are enduring a miserable season, Jack was having the best year of his career, averaging 15.6 points, 6.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds, all career highs. Jack had his first career triple-double with 17 points, 11 assists and
This column was originally going to be a convincing piece as to why Maurice Cheeks (full disclosure: my favorite player of all time) deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Then Stan Van Gundy decided enough was enough and exposed for all of us Dwight Howard’s true character – a selfish brat whose childish demands and indecision make him utterly impossible. When this mess in the Magic Kingdom shakes out sometime in May, Van Gundy will be unemployed, because that’s what
Reader Daniel put an end to a two-list losing streak, correctly solving last week’s Bernucca List with the answer of “leading scorers on the losing team in the Finals.” The list actually comprised the last 10 players to turn the trick. So congrats to Daniel as we move on to this week’s list, which is comprehensive but not complete as the research was somewhat time-consuming. See if you can find the common thread among the players listed below. If you think you
Cleveland Cavaliers rookie guard Kyrie Irving, the likely Rookie of the Year, will miss a week to 10 days – and maybe the rest of the season – with an aggravated shoulder injury, the team announced Wednesday. Irving suffered a sprained and bruised shoulder Friday vs. Milwaukee and sat out Saturday’s loss to New York. He returned to action Tuesday vs. San Antonio and had 13 points and five assists but took another shot to the shoulder. On Wednesday, Irving did not travel